What should I set JAVA_HOME environment variable on macOS X 10.6?
configuration, java, macos
Solution
I just set `JAVA_HOME` to the output of that command, which should give you the Java path specified in your Java preferences. Here's a snippet from my `.bashrc` file, which sets this variable:
export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)
I haven't experienced any problems with that technique.
Occasionally I do have to change the value of `JAVA_HOME` to an earlier version of Java. For example, one program I'm maintaining requires 32-bit Java 5 on OS X, so when using that program, I set `JAVA_HOME` by running:
export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.5)
For those of you who don't have `java_home` in your path add it like this.
sudo ln -s /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/Current/Commands/java_home /usr/libexec/java_home
References:
Oracle explains the java_home command
An article for configuring the JDK in Spring Tool Suite (Eclipse 2019) on MacOS
Problem
Many Java applications that use shell scripts to configure their environment use the `JAVA_HOME` environment variable to start the correct version of Java, locate JRE JARs, and so on. In macOS X 10.6, the following paths seem to be valid for this variable ``` /Library/Java/Home /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Home /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/Current ``` Some of these are symlinks to the actual current VM (as defined in the Java Preference pane). But which one should be used—or is it okay to use any of them?